Together Again
by Trillian Astra
Summary: Sequel to Picking Up The Pieces. The Doctor's off travelling again... and something very strange is going on. Meanwhile in Cardiff, something is happening to Jack, but he doesn't know about it yet. Please read and review!
1. Prologue

**A/N****: The sequel to Picking Up The Pieces. This is just a teaser chapter to kick things off. **

**Spoilers:**** Doctor Who, especially seasons 2, 3 and 4. Torchwood season 2, especially the last episode.**

**Please review!**

**Together Again**

Jack woke up, and sat straight up in bed. He had a feeling that there was someone else in the room besides him – but when he looked around, he saw that he was alone. He rubbed a hand over his eyes, and started to get dressed. It was early, but there was no point trying to get back to sleep now.

He'd just have the dreams again. They weren't bad dreams, not really. He was always happy in them. It was the waking up that spoilt everything.

--

The Doctor was staring at one of the screens on the TARDIS' console.

"What the…."

Donna came in with a cup of tea. "You alright, Doctor?"

"What… oh, yeah."

"What're you doing, then?"

"Looking at something. It's… weird."

"I thought weird was normal for you."

"Nah, that's just your kind of weird. This is… I don't even know what this is… it looks like a Rift…"

"A what?"  
"A Rift. Like the one in Cardiff. It looks like that… but…"

"But what?"  
"Nothing. It's impossible. It can't possibly be what it looks like."

"You should be used to impossible by now, too."

"True."  
"So what is it with this… thing?"  
"It looks like a Rift. It's emitting energy like a Rift. But it's not on a planet. It's not even in normal space."  
"Eh?"

"Normally, Rifts are… tears in the fabric of space-time. Stuff slips through from time to time – energy, aliens, you name it. But this… this is a Rift in the Vortex."

"The Time Vortex?"  
"Uh-huh."

"So… what does that mean?"

"I don't know. As far as I know this has never happened before. This could be… really bad. Or it might be harmless."

"Well, that's good to know."

They didn't get a chance to say anything else, because suddenly there was a bright flash of light. When the light had faded and they could see properly again, they noticed a person sprawled, unconscious, on the floor of the TARDIS. A person with shoulder-length blonde hair, who was clutching a familiar-looking key on a length of brown string.

**Next time, on "Together Again"****: What's Jack been dreaming about? What's up with the weird "feelings"? And who is the mysterious blonde who just materialised inside the TARDIS?**


	2. The Problem with Rose

The Doctor stared at the new arrival as if he'd seen a ghost, and had to grab the console for support when the TARDIS hit what felt like particularly bad turbulence

The Doctor stared at the new arrival as if he'd seen a ghost, and had to grab the console for support when the TARDIS hit what felt like particularly bad turbulence. The shaking stopped after a couple of minutes, and he looked at the monitor to see what had happened.

"Doctor? What was that?" Donna was kneeling next to the blonde girl.  
"It looks like the TARDIS reacted to something. I think it has something to do with her."  
"Does your ship do that a lot?"

"No, not really… although with Jack, she went all the way to the end of the universe…"

"The end of the universe?"

"Yeah." He saw her expression. "Oh, we're not there now. We're in Cardiff."

"Again?"  
"Yeah. I do end up here a lot…"

"So, what about her? Do you know her?"

He walked over, and knelt at her side. "Oh, yes. And she shouldn't be here. She's not even meant to be in this universe." Donna raised an eyebrow. "Don't ask. A very long story, that one."

"Doctor… is this… is this Rose?"

"How did you guess that?"

"You told me about her, when we first met, remember? You said she'd gone away."

"She had."

"And now she's back."  
"Well… uh, yeah…"

Rose stirred, attempting to pull herself into a sitting position. She looked up at the Doctor, frowning slightly as if she couldn't quite focus. "Doctor?"

That was all she managed to say before she fell backwards into the Doctor's arms, unconscious. At that moment, the door burst open and Jack ran in.

"Doctor? What's happening…." He saw Rose slumped in the Time Lord's arms. "Is that…."

"Er. Yes."

"What…um, is she okay?"

"I don't think so. She was conscious a moment ago, then she just collapsed."

"Right. I'll get Martha up here." Jack touched his headset. "Martha? Yeah, we've got a problem up here… I need you up here with your med-kit right now." He went over to the Doctor and Donna. "So… how is she here? I thought… you said she was trapped."

"She was. I found something. It looked like a rift in the Vortex. Then there was a bright light and she was just lying in the middle of the floor."

"That's weird."

Martha came in, medical kit in hand. "Okay, what's wrong?" She saw Rose lying on the floor. "Is this the patient?" She knelt next to Rose.

"Yeah." The Doctor looked uncomfortable. "So… how's Torchwood working out for you? Jack treating you okay?"

"Oh, yeah, it's fine. Everything's good. Hard work, though." She did a quick examination, and a few moments later she told Jack and the Doctor to get Rose somewhere other than the floor – which ended up being the TARDIS' med bay. When she was comfortable and connected to various monitors, they went to talk, leaving Donna to keep an eye on Rose.

"Well? Is she okay?" The Doctor looked frantic.

"No. No, she's not okay. She's hardly breathing, her blood pressure and heart rate are really not good. And she's still unconscious, which is not a good sign."

"Prognosis?"

"Honestly? You won't like it."

"Please."

Martha took a deep breath. "You should be prepared for the worst."

Jack was looking more and more concerned. "Which means what, exactly?"

"It means, if you have anything you want to say to her, do it now. Unless there's something tucked away in here that can help her, she doesn't have long."

"She's dying."

"I'm sorry."

The Doctor leant against the wall, staring into space as if he couldn't quite process what Martha had told him. Jack reached out, touching his arm, as he turned to Martha.

"Do you have any idea why Rose is in such a bad way?"  
"I… wait, Rose? That girl… that's _Rose_?"

"Uh-huh." Jack nodded.

"Oh, god. I'm sorry… uh… well, she came through the Vortex, right? It must have been that. She must have only been in the Vortex a short time, or she wouldn't have made it through alive at all. Doctor… I'm sorry… I don't know how I can help…"

"It's not your fault."

"Still… hang on…"

"What?"

"Time Lords are physically more robust than humans, yeah?"  
"Yes, but I don't see what that has to do with anything…"  
"Doctor, I'm sorry… but this is the only thing I can think of. And you're really not going to like this. Jack, come on… we need to get Rose back into the control room, now." As Martha and Jack turned to re-enter the med bay, the Doctor stopped them.  
"Martha… what are you doing?"

"The only thing I can. And we need to do this fast, or it'll be too late."

As they carried a still-unconscious Rose out, the Doctor stayed where he was. He didn't know what Martha was planning… but then he was too caught up in thoughts of Rose… of how he'd got her back, only to have her snatched away again. Suddenly, something Martha had said made sense to him, and he knew what she was going to do. He sprang to his feet and ran after them, followed by a rather confused Donna.

**A/N: What's Martha up to? Anyone who guesses right gets a virtual cookie. **

**Here's a quick teaser for the rest of the story… **

**There are going to be babies later in this story. Many babies. All of whom will be adorably cute.**


	3. Loss or Gain?

**So, this is Part Three... enjoy!**

**(I just finished watching "The Doctor's Daughter"... now _that_**** was a good episode. A superb performance from David Tennant.)**

The Doctor got to the control room too late. Personally, he suspected it was because the TARDIS had chosen that moment to rearrange her corridors again. It crossed his mind that maybe she had something to do with Martha's burst of inspiration, and he made a mental note to find out later. For now, though, he was a little busy. When he got to the control room, he saw Rose in a chair, being propped up by Jack while Martha checked her vital signs.

"What did you do?"

Martha turned around. "Okay, first… I'm really sorry. It was the only way to save her that I could think of."

"What did you do, Martha?"  
"The chameleon arch. I thought… if she had Time Lord physiology, she'd be stronger, and she'd survive what happened to her."

"Has she woken up yet?"

"Not yet… but her vitals are better, and she's breathing more easily now."

Rose opened her eyes, and saw Jack holding her. "Jack?" She said, groggily.

"It's okay…"  
"Where am I?"  
"You're in the TARDIS… it's safe…"

"How did I get here?"

"We don't know."

" Jack, I feel weird…"

"Yeah, we… uh… you were sick. We had to do something to fix you."

"What?"  
"It's called a chameleon arch. It made you a Time Lord."

"Huh?"

"Never mind. We'll explain later. There's someone here who's been worried about you." Jack stepped aside and she saw the Doctor.

"Doctor!" She stood up, wobbled a bit, and ran to him. He caught her, wrapping his arms around her. Holding her as though he would never let her go again.

He was disturbed by Martha. "Uh, Doctor… I think Rose might want to breathe… she's still weak, you know."

"Oh. Right." He released his grip on her. But only a little. "Sorry."

She looked up at him. "It's okay."

They stood like that for a few minutes, just looking at each other. Then, the Doctor heard not only the voice of the TARDIS, but also the voices of his previous nine incarnations, screaming at him.

They were all saying the same thing: _Kiss Her_. So he did. (He didn't know, but Jack and Martha had been silently willing him to kiss her as well)

When they finally stopped kissing, the Doctor looked around for Jack and Martha… and found them outside the TARDIS in the Plass. He stuck his head outside.

"Er… Rose and I have some catching up to do. In private. So you two can go and do… whatever you want, really. We'll see you later." When he saw Jack's expression, he hastily added. "And yes, I promise not to run off." Before disappearing inside the TARDIS with Rose. And locking the door.

_Some Time Later_

Jack and Martha hadn't seen either Rose or the Doctor for several hours, so Jack decided to go on an exploratory mission to find out where they'd gone. He tentatively knocked on the door, expecting no-one to answer, and was surprised to see Rose open the door looking a little… flustered.

"Jack! What d'you want?"

"I was just coming to make sure everything was all right in there."

"Oh. Everything's great. It's fine. Really."

"What happened?" The words were hardly out of his mouth when he realised that there were some things he really didn't need to know. "On second thoughts, don't tell me."

"Okay. I don't think the Doctor would want you to know, anyway."

_That_ caused a raised eyebrow from Jack. "So… how are you feeling, Rosie? Did you talk to him about what happened?"  
"Well… uh… I feel okay, I guess. It's weird. Being back here, rather than in the other world. And my family's there… they won't know where I am..." She started to cry, and Jack instinctively reached for her, wrapping his arms around her.

"They'll figure it out. Is there a Torchwood in this other world of yours?"  
"Yeah." She sniffed. "I worked there."

"Well, if they employed you, and if they're anything like my Torchwood, they'll figure out what happened and your folks will know that you're safe."

"I suppose. I miss them though."

"If you could, would you go back?"  
"Um… I don't know. I mean, my family is there, but the Doctor's here. I can't really choose. But I guess it doesn't matter. It's not as if I _can _go back."

"Yeah. Still, you've got the Doc, and me. We'll look after you."

She smiled at him through her tears. "I know you will."

"So. He did tell you what happened when you… uh, came through, right?"

"I was sick, right?"

"It might have killed you. But we… um, Martha and I, we saved you."  
"How? And who's Martha?"  
"Martha works for me. She used to travel with the Doc, but not anymore."  
"Oh."  
"Anyway… we used the chameleon arch."

"Oh, he told me about that. It's weird… I'm sort of, a Time Lord now. Or a Time Lady, I don't know exactly."

"Er… yeah. I guess you are."


	4. Oh Dear

That night, after Rose had been properly introduced to Martha, Donna, Gwen and Ianto, the question of sleeping arrangements came up. The Doctor said he'd be quite happy staying in the TARDIS, but then Rose told him off for isolating himself.

"So where am I supposed to stay then?"

"Well I don't know… Jack, where do you sleep?"

"Um. Here. In the Hub."

"Where's your bed?"

"Oh, er… down there." He indicated a trapdoor in the floor.

"Oh. Right. Well, this place is big enough, so Doctor, you can stay here with Jack tonight."

The Doctor raised the next point. "What about you?"

"Oh, I'm staying with Martha. Donna too. We've got a lot to talk about. I'll see you in the morning, okay?"

"Er… yeah. Okay."

She kissed him on the cheek quickly, then hurried away to where Martha was waiting for her. When Jack and the Doctor were alone – Gwen and Ianto having already left for the night – the Doctor turned to his companion, looking strangely scared.

"Doc?"

"What do you think they're going to talk about, Jack?"

"Y'know, I don't think you really need to know that. It's a girl thing."

"They're going to be talking about me. I just know they are."

"Doc, relax. It doesn't matter. They're getting to know each other, that's all. It'll be fine."

"Right. Yeah."

"Come on. We need to find you a place to sleep."

Jack opened the trapdoor down to his rather small sleeping quarters – he had a bed, a wardrobe for his clothes, a tiny bathroom and an even tinier kitchen – little more than a fridge and a cupboard.

The Doctor looked around. "Huh. Well, it's… cosy."

"Cosy?"

"Well, it's a bit spartan. You need some decoration… some paint, maybe a picture or two… what?" He realised that Jack was laughing.

"Oh… nothing. I just… didn't know you were an interior designer as well."

"You don't know everything about me, Jack. What's wrong with being an interior designer?"

"Nothing. Er… sorry."

"Hm. You're forgiven. So… this is the only bedroom in the Hub, right?"

"Yeah."

"So, where am I going to sleep?"

"Well, you could have the bed, and I'll sleep on the sofa outside. Or you could have the sofa. Or we could both share the bed. I don't mind either way."

"Oh, I can't kick you out of your own bed. And that sofa doesn't look terribly comfortable."

"Okay. Looks like we're sharing." An uncomfortable silence followed. "Er… actually, I'm not all that tired."

"Me neither."  
"So… we could, um, maybe… have a drink? There's this nice little pub not far from here…"  
"Jack, are you asking me out on a date?"

"Well… sort of. Partly. That, and I could really do with a drink right now."

"Oh. Drinks it is, then! Let's go, let's find this pub of yours."

--

An hour later, they were sitting in a pub together. It really was nice… booths around the walls, for people who wanted a little more privacy, and arrangements of comfortable chairs occupying to rest of the room. They'd claimed one of the bay windows… Jack was sitting on the window seat, with the Doctor in an armchair nearby, feet propped up on the table between them.

"So. How have you been? I know how your team is, and what you've been up to. But what about you?"  
"To be honest… I feel good. Really _good_, for the first time in years. I'm not saying there isn't a lot of stress, but… yeah. I feel good. Except…"  
"Except what?"  
"It's not really a problem. And it's a bit embarrassing."  
"You have Doctor-patient confidentiality on your side. Tell me."

"I've been having dreams. Regularly, and over the last six months."  
"What about?"  
Jack grimaced. "That's the embarrassing part. They're about… well, us."  
"Us? Are you sure those aren't memories?"  
"_No_. Definitely not. In the dreams… we're happy. Some of the scenes are positively domestic. Some of them are… well… you can guess. And there's something else. In the dreams, we have a kid."

The Doctor's eyes widened. "A _what_?"  
"A kid. A girl. Sometimes she's only a baby, mostly I see a child. Although one time she was a teenager. That wasn't fun, even knowing that it was a dream."

"Okay. That's weird. There hasn't been anything else weird, has there?"  
Jack just looked at him. "Torchwood, remember?"

"I mean, other than the usual kind."  
"Sometimes… I wake up, and I have this feeling that someone else is there. But no-one is. What does it mean? Is anything dangerous going to happen?"  
"Well… not as such. Things might have to change a bit though. Um…" He reached into his coat pocket and took out his stethoscope. "You don't mind if I check something, do you?"  
"Er… no."  
"Good. Lift up your shirt."

Jack did so, and the Doctor put the end of the stethoscope against his stomach and listened. Then he went pale. Or paler than usual, anyway.

"Doc… what is it?"

Wordlessly, the Doctor let Jack listen. It was faint, but he could clearly hear the _ba-dum, ba-dum_ of a small heartbeat. Then the Doctor moved the end of the stethoscope a fraction of a millimetre, and Jack heard a second tiny heart beating.

"So… I'm, uh… pregnant?"  
"Yeah."

"Damn. Already did that once. Er… you know, I haven't actually, um, _done _it with that many people recently. Not with Ianto for months, and… oh, _crap_."

"Yeah. The last person… would be me."  
"So it's not twins?"  
"No. Only one."  
"And apparently a Time Lord, too. Wait… how do you know?"  
"I can recognise other Time Lords just by being around them, or seeing them. I can feel it. You've got a unborn Time Lord in there, Jack."  
"I _knew_ I should have had that implant removed."

"Right. Um… we should probably get you back to the Hub. Or the TARDIS. Just to check that everything's okay in there."

--

On the way back, Jack called Martha, telling her to get to the Hub and that he had something important that she needed to know about. She sounded concerned, but said she'd come anyway.

As they made their way inside, Jack heard something.

_Mummy?_

He looked around, looking for a child, but there was no-one nearby apart from the Doctor. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"A child. Asking for its mummy."

"I didn't hear anything."  
_Mummy?_

"It happened again, just now."  
_Mummy, is that you?_

The child obviously couldn't be heard by anyone else… so Jack tried thinking calming thoughts at it. _Okay, kid, it's okay. Everything's okay._

_Mummy!_

"Oh, _crap_."


End file.
